tmux and Optimal Layout

I use screen a lot. It’s a good way to ensure transient network
lossage [including suspending the machine you’re using] doesn’t nuke
your editor sessions or other state.

During a session I usually have some tiled arrangement of terminal
windows each attached to the same screen session (using -x). I want to
see more than one terminal at a time but I still want each session
under screen and it would be tedious to have many screen sessions.

I stumbled across
tmux
last night. It reminds me a bit of
DESQview. Today I’m
experimenting with using tmux and a single, giant terminal window in
place of my screen + several terminal windows. It’s easier to
reconnect and get everything set up, although I’m not yet sure how
well it will work out since I have different layouts for different
sized screens. I may need to edit some of the keybindings to match
screen’s to smooth out the transition, but I’m going to try the
defaults first.

It’s not really related to tmux, but Optimal Layout is
pretty great. The few default window positions plus a few I added
mean I can quickly move windows into useful positions (and between
monitors) with the keyboard.